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Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart looks back on the 2012 season as a roller coaster ride that ended on the down side.

Stewart started the season as defending champion but nothing, it seems, went as planned as he finished ninth in the Chase.

“We didn’t have the season we wanted, but we also knew that it would be tough to duplicate the kind of run we had last year,” he said in a year-end review of the No. 14 Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet team.

“Disappointing,” Stewart said. “I was hoping for a lot more. And it’s not because we didn’t win, but I thought that we were a lot better team than a ninth-place team in the championship. I was disappointed with that, but it shows how competitive the series is.

“You look at the two guys who tied in the points last year — Carl (Edwards) didn’t win a race and didn’t make the Chase. You can be on top one minute and turn around the next minute and be quite a bit behind. So it makes you focus a lot on trying to stay on top, for sure.”

HINCH ON HOLIDAYS

Canada’s James Hinchcliffe is spending his holiday season at an undisclosed southern location with his family this year.

After a first full season in the IZOD IndyCar Series, Hinchcliffe deserves the rest and relaxation.

His eighth-place finish in the North American open-wheel championship wasn’t as good as he had hoped for but it was a season, none the less, that holds promise for bigger and better things for the driver of the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Chevrolet.

“Holidays at Casa de Hinch have been celebrated without me because I’ve been gone most of the last few holiday seasons,” Hinchcliffe told IndyCar.com of his holiday plans. “It only gets worse from here. My own home will be empty, because I’ll be meeting my family in some warmer climates.”

Looking back on earlier Christmases, Hinchcliffe, recalled his favourite gift.

“The most memorable Christmas gift has to be my Greg Moore helmet,” he said. “It’s a 99, raced-used helmet and it’s one of my most treasured possessions, so that tops the list ... that or my Tamagotchi.”

GANASSI BACK FOR MORE

Chip Ganassi can look at his trophy case and see six GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Championships (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012) and on Tuesday he announced his driver lineup for both the whole season and the opening Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Four-time Rolex 24 At Daytona Winners (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011) Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will be back in the No. 01 Dinan-prepared BMW Riley, for their seventh consecutive season with Ganassi.

Formula One driver Romain Grosjean’s season was highlighted by miscues but he redeemed himself somewhat last week winning the title of “Champion of Champions” by defeating Le Mans 24 Hours race legend Tom Kristensen in the best-of-three final at the Race of Champions at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. And he was rewarded this week with a new contract with the Lotus F-1 team ... Two new faces tested IndyCar machines at Sebring. Tristan Vautier, last season’s IndyCar Lights champion, was in a Sam Schmidt Motorsports Honda and Conor Daly tested for A.J. Foyt Racing. Daly, who won a Firestone Indy Lights race at Long Beach in 2011, competed in GP3 the past two seasons after winning the Star Mazda Championship. ... Andretti Autosport announced Tuesday they have signed Matthew Brabham, a third-generation racer to drive the No. 27 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires entry for the 2013 season. This will mark Brabham’s first year in the series. Brabham is the grandson of Australia’s Sir Jack Brabham, a three-time F-1 champion. Matthew’s father, Geoff Brabham successfully competed in CART early in his career, where he was teammates with Andretti Autosport owner, Michael Andretti.

SCHU ON VETTLE

They may both be Germans and both have won multiple Formula One championships, but seven-time champion Michael Schumacher says it is unfair to compare his stats to three-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

But Autosport.com did compare the pair over the same periods of their careers and the two come out almost dead even.

Schumacher had 27 wins in his first 102 races (.264 winning percentage), 17 poles (16.7%) and two world championships while Vettel had 26 wins in 101 races (.257 winning percentage), 36 poles (35.6%) and three world championships.

So it looks as though Vettel has a slight edge and he is still only 25-years old.

“You have to be special to do that, it’s pretty simple,” Schumacher said of Vettel’s career so far. “I don’t think we need to compare. He is doing his thing in his moment and I did it before.”

Vettel, meanwhile, said his winning a third consecutive world championship for Red Bull in 2012 is just starting to sink in.

“I think it’s still difficult to put it in perspective,” he said. “I’m not waking up in the morning and thinking of what I have achieved. I’m happy with who I am and I’m happy to wake up the next day and really go day by day, not making things too complicated or thinking about it too much.

“It’s very special and something no one can take from us. I’m very proud of that.”

Stewart reflects on disappointing Sprint Cup season

Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart looks back on the 2012 season as a roller coaster ride that ended on the down side.

Stewart started the season as defending champion but nothing, it seems, went as planned as he finished ninth in the Chase.

“We didn’t have the season we wanted, but we also knew that it would be tough to duplicate the kind of run we had last year,” he said in a year-end review of the No. 14 Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet team.

“Disappointing,” Stewart said. “I was hoping for a lot more. And it’s not because we didn’t win, but I thought that we were a lot better team than a ninth-place team in the championship. I was disappointed with that, but it shows how competitive the series is.